Saving Private Jeanette
by Seymour Butz
Summary: Simon and Brittney just can't ever get along with each other, but they'll have to set aside their differences, and work together, when the one girl they both love the most is in a life threatening situation. Don't forget to read my other tales.
1. Bossy Brittney, Soothing Simon

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter One "Bossy Brittney, Soothing Simon"

"Come on, Brittney!" Jeanette yelled upstairs.

"We're going to be late for school!" Eleanor added.

"Keep your skirts on!" Brittney shouted from their bedroom, upstairs. "I'll be down in a sec!"

"Why does it always take her so long to get ready for school?" Eleanor asked her older sister with a sigh.

"Beats me," Jeanette responded, "but if she doesn't hurry, we're going to be late, again!" Jeanette called upstairs again, "Brittney! Come on!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Brittney hollered as she ran downstairs.

Of course, things weren't too different at the Seville house either...

"Shake a leg, Alvin!" Simon shouted at his older brother upstairs.

"Yeah, if we're late one more time, we'll have detention!" Theodore cried.

"Hold you thoraxes," Alvin responded, "I'm coming as fast as I can!"

Ten seconds later, Alvin finally came racing downstairs, and out the front door.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Theodore cried after Alvin as he soon followed, as did Simon.

Once the chipmunks made it to the sidewalk in front of their house, next door, the chipettes made it to the sidewalk as well.

"By my calculations," Simon started as he raced down the sidewalk for school, followed closely by the rest of the group, "if we keep up the current rate we're running, and don't stop for anything, we should make it to school, and be in our classroom with about ten seconds to spare!"

"Then let's pick up the pace!" Alvin shouted, sounding like a little drill sergeant. "Hup-two-three-four! Hup-two-three-four! Hup-two-three-four!"

"Alvin!" The others barked.

The chipmunks and chipettes kept running, and running, and running, as fast as they could, none of them stopping for anything, just like Simon suggested. Dragging up the rear was Jeanette, and unfortunately, her shoelaces were untied, and she ended up tripping over them, falling flat on her face.

"Hey, wait for me!" Jeanette cried out, as she picked herself up to tie her shoes, though the rest of the gang was so determined to get to school on time, they didn't even notice she tripped, her heard her cry out for them.

Jeanette sighed and shook her head as she tied her shoe. "Great," she mumbled to herself, "now I'll be stuck in detention..."

As Jeanette stood up, she suddenly had a sickening feeling take over her body. A feeling that she was being watched by somebody. She figured she was probably being paranoid about the teacher giving her detention for being late again. So, Jeanette had her shoes tied, just as her sisters and friends made it to school, with about fifteen seconds to spare, instead of ten.

"Wow," Simon said, as he caught his breath, "we made incredible time!"

"I'll say," said their teacher, with a slight tone of sarcasm in her voice, "where's Jeanette?"

The chipmunks and the chipettes looked around.

"She was right behind us..." Alvin said, just as the bell rang.

"Never mind," said the teacher, "just take your seats..."

Alvin, Simon, Theodore, Brittney, and Eleanor all took their seats, and they were all wondering what happened to Jeanette.

"Wasn't she right behind you?" Simon asked in a whisper to Eleanor.

"I thought she was," she responded, also in a whisper, "I don't know what happened to her..."

"Now then, would you all stand for the Pledge of Alligence, please?" Asked the teacher, as the class stood up from their desks, and placed their right hands over their hearts.

"I pledge alligence to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all." The class recited as they were instructed to take their seats, just as Jeanette walked in.

"Miss Miller, I see your late again." The teacher pointed out, slightly annoyed.

"I apologize for that ma'am," Jeanette said in a timid voice, "I... uh... I tripped and fell on my way here, and had to tie my shoes..."

The rest of the class, save for her friends and sisters, all laughed at their clumsiest classmate.

"Alright class," the teacher barked, "that's enough! Jeanette? I'm afraid I have no other choice, but to give you detention. This is the sixth time this month you've been late, you've been given warnings, now you must face the consequences."

Jeanette hung her head in shame, and embarrassment, as she heard a few kids quietly through "oooh"s at her. "I understand." She replied sadly.

"And, of course, you realize if this keeps up further, it goes on your permanent record?"

"Yes, ma'am." Jeanette sighed as she took her seat.

"Ma'am?" Simon asked as he raised his hand for permission to speak.

"Yes, Simon?" she asked.

"Ma'am, can't you make an exception just this once?" Simon asked in defense of his girlfriend, "Jeanette obviously didn't realize her shoes were untied, and couldn't help but trip and fall."

"Yeah, we made the extra effort to make it to school on time today," Eleanor added to back up her sister, "it could have happened to anybody."

The teacher smiled. "Okay. I shouldn't do this, but I agree, it was an accident that could have happened to anybody. Jeanette? You're off the hook this time, but next time, it's detention."

"Thank you." Jeanette said shyly, as she notice both Simon and Eleanor winking at her.

A couple of hours later, the teacher was assigning a project to the class.

"What you will be doing is constructing an eco-system in a box," the teacher related to the class, "you can choose from a temperate climate, prairie, desert, even oceanic. You will all be working in groups of three..."

The class quietly expressed their excitement.

"... that I will be choosing for you..." the teacher added.

The class quietly expressed their disappointment. Very rarely does a kid end up in a decent group, and even rarer is if that kid ends up in the same group more than once. The last time a class project was done, the highest graded project went to the group comprised of Simon, Jeanette, and Eleanor. Each of them quietly wished and hoped they could end up in that exact same group again. Another two hours later at lunch...

"I can put up being in a group with Jeanette, she is my sister after all," Brittney whined, "but having to be in the same group with Simon? Please!"

Brittney wasn't exactly fond of "Mr. Know-It-All", meanwhile, Simon could easily live without "Little Miss Diva".

"I'm no more disappointed with this group arrangment as you are, Brittney," Simon told her, "but all we can do is grin and bear it."

"Can't you two just learn to get along?" Jeanette asked sincerely.

"I'd love to," Simon responded, "but Brittney's attitude can really annoy me at times."

"My attitude?!" Brittney snapped. "Look who's talking!"

"Excuse me, Brittney, but I don't have an attitude problem."

"Oh come on! Just because the rest of us aren't as smart as you, doesn't make none of us stupid!"

"I believe you mean, 'that doesn't make any of us stupid'."

"See?"

"Pardon me."

"I can't, you're unpardonable."

"That isn't even a word."

After school, Simon met Jeanette at her locker.

"Well, save for Brittney," he told her, "I do believe we will, once again, have the best project in class."

"I agree," Jeanette told him, "I just wish the two of you could set aside your differences and get along."

"It would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry you're caught in the middle of our feud here."

"It's quite alright, I should be used to Brittney's attitude by now."

"I'm also sorry we didn't realize you had tripped on your shoelaces this morning."

"That's okay... thanks to busting me out of detetion, though".

"Anything for you, Jeanette." Simon told her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and gave her a little hug. She smiled. She loved it when he hugged her.

Later that afternoon in the chipettes' bedroom.

"Jeanette!" Brittney barked.

"Yes, Brittney?"

"Get your nose out of that dumb book and help me out here, will you?"

Jeanette sighed, as she bookmarked her place, slipped off her bed, and walked over to wear Brittney was standing in front of her mirror.

"What seems to be the problem, Brittney?" Jeanette asked patiently.

"Sometimes you're pretty good at color co-ordinating," Brittney said coldly, "which of these scarves do you think goes best with my new outfit, the blue or the red?"

"Hmm... hard to say... the both look very nice... but I think... maybe... the blue offers a nice opposite to the pink in your outfit, while at the same time, it brings out your lovely eyes."

"It does, doesn't it?" Brittney asked, as she bats her eyes in the mirror.

"But, on the other hand," Jeanette added, "don't you also have a purple scarf, somewhere?"

"Purple?! Please! I'm not wearing purple!"

"But, purple's such a beauitful color, Brittney."

"Thpt! I hate purple! Nobody in their right mind likes purple!"

Jeanette hung her head, and mumbled to herself, quietly, "I like purple..."

"Some help you are! 'Purple'... blah! I'm wearing the blue one!"

Jeanette crawled back onto her bed, to resume her book, but...

"What do you think you're doing?" Brittney asked.

"Um, I was just..." Jeanette began.

"We're not through, here!" Brittney barked as she grabbed her thickest text book, and a notebook, and dropped them carelessly on Jeanette's bed.

"Remember, we've been assigned pages fifty-two through fifty-four!" Brittney told her, as she forced Jeanette to do her math homework for her.

"Brittney?"

"Yeah?" Brittney began to brush her hair.

"May I tell you something? Not as a sister, but as a friend?"

"Oh, whatever..."

"Brittney? You won't learn any of this, unless you try to do it yourself."

"Hey, as long as I've got a brainy, second banana like you, why do I need to learn this stuff? Like I'm gonna use long division when I grow up..."

"You'd be surprised." Jeanette said with a sigh, as their baby sister walked in.

"How's it going?" Eleanor asked them.

"I think it's time I got myself a new lacky," Brittney said, hurting Jeanette's feelings, "Jeanette's slipping!"

"Brittney!" Eleanor snapped. "Jeanette's not your lacky, she's your sister!"

"Same difference!" Brittney boasted.

Eleanor looked over at Jeanette, and felt bad seeing her do Brittney's homework for her, obviously, having had her feelings hurt by Brittney's work. Eleanor prepared to speak up, but then the phone rang, being the closest to it, Brittney answered it.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Brittney spoke into the phone.

"Brittney!" Eleanor snapped.

"Hold on..." Brittney tossed the phone over to Jeanette, "here, it's your special boy-toy!"

"Hello?" Jeanette spoke into the phone, "Simon! What's up? Really? Okay, cool, see you in a minute! Bye" Jeanette hung up, and leapt off her bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Brittney asked.

"Simon invited us over to his house to discuss our class project!" Jeanette exclaimed.

"Ah, you go ahead, I'm not done brushing my hair!" Brittney told her.

"Um, Brittney?" Eleanor asked, "shouldn't you accept Simon's invitation? After all, you're a part of his group too, you know?"

"Why bother?" Brittney responded, "knowing Simon and Jeanette, they'll do all the work anyway... after all, I might touch something a ruin it..." Brittney said in a mocking tone.

"Fine," Jeanette said, feeling exasperated, "I'm going..." Jeanette left the room.

"You really ought to be nicer to Jeanette, Brittney," Eleanor told her oldest sister, "she is your sister after all, and she is a person, not a machine."

"At least she works like a machine," Brittney said confidentally.

Moments later, Jeanette knocked on the door of the Seville house. Dave answered.

"Hi, Jeanette." Dave greeted her in a friendly tone.

"Hey, Dave!" Jeanette squeaked.

"Simon's waiting for you in the basement."

"Thanks, Dave!"

And so, within a matter of seconds...

"Well, I'm here!" Jeanette exclaimed, as she made it down the wooden staircase into the Sevilles' basement, which Simon used as his laboratory.

Simon walked over to his favorite girl, and embraced her, as she sighed.

"Something the matter?" He asked her in concern.

"Oh," Jeanette explained, "just another typical night with my big sister, slash, master..."

"Why do you let Brittney treat you that way?" Simon asked her, "you're not her slave, you're her little sister!"

"What else can I do?" Jeanette asked.

"You need to stand up to her," Simon suggested, "you can't be a victim all your life, Jeanette, you have to let people know you're not a pushover."

"Well, I don't know..." Jeanette said sadly, "one thing I've learned over the years... if Brittney's happy, everybody's happy..."

"Where is Brittney, anyway?"

"She didn't want to come."

"Oh well, we'll get so much more done tonight with just the two of us," Simon assured her, "besides, I like spending one-on-one time with you."

Jeanette smiled.

"So, what are your thoughts on our project?" Simon asked her. "Which kind of eco-system would you like to do?"

"Well..." Jeanette started, not used to be asked for her opinion in this manner, "I thought maybe the ocean..."

"We can do that," Simon said, "let's see what we can get planned..."


	2. You're Useless

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Two "You're Useless"

Over night, Simon and Jeanette had quite a bit of planning for their group project finished, with no help from Brittney, but it doesn't really matter. Simon and Jeanette both knew they can get plenty of work done themselves, meanwhile Brittney knew she'd get a good grade on her report card for this project, without having to do anything.

The next morning, the girls woke up for school, and the first thing Brittney did was harass Jeanette some more.

"So, how was your date with Simon, last night?" She asked mockingly.

"It wasn't a date, Brittney," Jeanette reassured her, "we were working on our project, we've got quite a planning done last night... and what did you do?"

"Oh, who cares?" Brittney responded.

"I care," Jeanette told her big sister, "Brittney, will you at least do something to contribute to this project? Simon and I can't do all the work, this is a project for all three of us, and all three of us need to to some of the work."

"Relax Jeanette, I'll contribute."

"Thank you."

"I'll give the oral presentation in front of the class."

Jeanette sighed.

"Well, look at it this way..." Brittney started, "Simon can type up the written report, you can make the eco-system in the box, and I'll give the oral report!"

"Okay..." Jeanette was obviously in no mood to fuss with Brittney.

Moments later, the girls and their boyfriends were walking down the sidewalk for school. Today, they were making incredible timing.

"Jeanette!" Brittney called out.

"Yes, Brittney?" Jeanette asked, as they came upon a little convenient store.

"Be a doll, and run in there and grab me a Snickers bar for lunch today."

Jeanette strolled into the convenient store.

"Brittney?" Simon began.

"What?" She asked.

"You really need to stop bossing Jeanette around," Simon explained, "she's not your slave, she's your sister."

"Hey," Brittney argue, "I don't boss her around, she chooses to do things for me, right Eleanor?"

"Please don't drag me into this, Brittney." Eleanor pleaded.

"Look Brittney," Simon continued, "Jeanette told me last night that she thinks of you as her 'master'."

"You expect me to believe that?" Brittney asked. "I know Jeanette, she's my sister! She's just your girlfriend, you don't know how like I know her!"

"You're right," Simon added, "maybe I know her better?"

"Just because you're Mr. Smart Aleck, Simon, doesn't mean you know everyone in the world better than everyone else."

"I'm just saying..."

"Here you go, Brittney!" Jeanette walked out of the shop with a Milky Way bar.

"Thank you, sis..." Brittney snatched the bar out of Jeanette's hand and pressed on for school.

Simon held Jeanette's hand.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

"I don't know... there was some creepy guy staring at me in there..." she told him.

"Who?" He asked.

"I don't know, he was sitting at a table, eating a bag of chips, and reading the paper... or... pretend to read the paper... I could see out the corner of my eye him looking over his paper at me..."

"Ever seen him before?"

"I've seen around town before... I think he might be a bum or something... I just didn't like the way he kept staring at me..."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much... maybe he just couldn't get over how cute you are?"

Jeanette giggled, "oh Simon..."

If Simon made Jeanette's day a little better, it was only temporary, for after school...

"Jeanette?!" Brittney shouted at her little sister as they made their way up to their bedroom, "I've got a bone to pick with you!"

"What's wrong Brittney?" Jeanette asked, concerned.

Brittney shoved a piece of paper in her face. "Look at this!"

Jeanette adjusted her glasses and observed the paper, it was the math homework Brittney was having her do for her the night before, with a D on it.

"You see that? I got a D on my math homework!" Brittney shouted, "why is that?!"

"Brittney? You didn't even finish it!" Jeanette told her.

"You were supposed to do it for me!"

"Brittney, I can't do all your homework for you, I have my own homework to worry about, you need to worry about your own."

"Aw geez, Jeanette, can't you do anything right?!"

"Now Brittney, I'm willing to help you with your homework, I'm even willing to tutor you, but I can't do it for you!"

"Oh, 'I can't do this', 'I can't do that', you can't do anything, Jeanette!"

"You're hurting my feelings, Brittney..."

"Who cares about your feelings?!"

A tear rolled down Jeanette's cheek.

"You suggest I wear purple, when you know I hate purple!"

"But purple would go so well with your outfit..."

"I ask you to do my homework, you don't finish it, and I get a D!"

"As I said, I can't do your homework for you..."

"I ask you to get me a Snickers bar, you get me a Milky Way!"

"You don't like peanuts in your food, Snickers has nuts..."

"And then in the hallway at school today, you bump into me, and knock me down in front of everybody, while they all pointed at me and laughed at me!"

"... that was just an accident, Brittney..."

"You're useless, Jeanette! You're absolutely, completely useless!"

Jeanette's feelings weren't hurt. They were destroyed. Her own big sister telling her she's useless. Jeanette took her glasses off to wipe the tears away from her eyes.

"Aw, now don't start crying now, for Pete's sake!" Brittney told Jeanette. "I don't need you breaking down on me like a baby here..."

Jeanette couldn't take it anymore, so she ran out of the bedroom, nearly knocking Eleanor down in the process, as Eleanor grew angry, and walked into the room.

"Alright," Eleanor snapped, "what happened?"

"Aw, Jeanette's just being a crybaby!" Brittney told her.

"Well, she's not crying for no reason, what happened?"

"I think she's finally realizing just how useless she really is."

"You told Jeanette she's useless?!"

"Well, she is!"

"Jeanette is not useless, Brittney! How can you tell your own sister, whose sole purpose in life is to please you, she's useless!"

"You just don't understand, Eleanor..."

"I think I understand perfectly! You virtually treat her like she's your slave, if she doesn't do anything that pleases you, you verbally punish her, and it hurts her feelings!"

"Oh, chill out, Eleanor, this doesn't even concern you!"

"It does concern me, Jeanette's my sister too, and I don't like seeing her being treated this way by our own big sister!"

Jeanette was strolling down the sidewalk, crying her eyes out, not watching what she was doing, and ended up bumping into somebody.

"Oh..." she said through her tears, "I'm sorry, I didn't see where I was going..."

"That's alright," said a rather deep, gravely voice.

Jeanette wiped her eyes, slipped her glasses back on, and saw she bumped into the same guy who was staring at her in the convenient store earlier that morning. Jeanette quietly gulped.

"What seems to be the problem, young lady?" Asked this strange man, as he bent over a bit to make eye-contact with Jeanette.

"Um..." she began hesitantly, "nothing... nothing at all..."

"Oh, come on now, I can tell something's the matter... pretty little girl like you doesn't just cry for no reason."

"It's nothing, really..." Jeanette told him, knowing she shouldn't talk to strangers, "I really should be going..."

Jeanette tried to walk past the man, but he quickly grabbed her arm.

"Not so fast there," he told her, "it might help to tell your troubles to somebody..."

"Please let go of me..." Jeanette asked the man.

"Say, you know something? You look familiar..." he told her, in a somewhat sly tone.

"Well, I don't know about that..."

"That's it... aren't you one of those chipette girls?"

"As a matter of fact... I am..."

"Come with me..."

"No!"

Jeanette struggled to loosen herself from this man's grip, but he wasn't about to let her girl anytime soon. As a matter of fact, he began to drag her to a beat up car he had parked across the street.

"Please let me go! Please?" Jeanette pleaded.

"Sorry, can't do that." Said the man as he shoved Jeanette through the driver's side of his car, as he got in behind her, but once in the passenger seat, Jeanette opened the door, hopped out, and began to run.

The strange man, hopped back out of his car, and gave chase. Unfortunately, he caught with her, and snatched her up from the ground, as she started kicking and screaming.

"Help!" She cried out, hoping someone would hear her, "help! Help!"

The man attempted to shut Jeanette up, by covering her mouth with his hand, but she bit him. He wasn't going to have any of that. He sat Jeanette on the ground on her feet, and punched her in the mouth. Jeanette covered her mouth in pain, as blood pour from her bottom lip. Jeanette's kidnapper then picked her up again, raced her over to his car, but this time, he opened the trunk, grabbed some yellow rope he had in there, and began tying Jeanette's hands behind her back, and tying her feet together. Jeanette began crying again. This time, she was crying in fear. What was this stranger going to do to her? The stranger went through the small toolbox he had in his trunk, and pulled out a small roll of packing tape, which he used to gag Jeanette. When that was said and finished, he stood up for a moment, and checked her out. She smiled a sick smile. Jeanette was helpless. She felt helpless, and she looked helpless. He liked it. He pulled out his cellphone, and snapped a picture of Jeanette as she was in his trunk, before he shut it, and drove off. 


	3. Missing in Action

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Three "Missing in Action"

Hours had passed. The skies grew darker. Both Brittney and Eleanor were worried. Miss Miller had a curfew for the girls. Brittney, Jeanette, and Eleanor were to all be inside the house for the night by no later than nine o'clock. It was now fifteen minutes till nine, and Jeanette was not inside the house, highly unusual for her, especially considering Jeanette rarely goes outside anyway.

"I'm getting really worried..." Brittney said hesitantly, as she check their bedroom alarm clock for the sixtieth time this minute.

"What do you care?" Eleanor asked, slightly sarcastically, but mostly sternly.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Brittney asked, insulted. "Jeanette's my sister too, you know?"

"Oh really? I thought she was more like your slave..."

"Oh, will you get off that?"

"How can I? You hurt Jeanette's feelings so much, she probably ran away from home! She's probably out there now... cold... lonely... lost..."

"I'm calling the boys, see if they've seen her..." Brittney walked over to her phone, and dialed the number for the Seville house. "I sure hope they've seen her... hello? Alvin? No, this isn't an obscene phone call, you perv! Listen, have you boys seen Jeanette, lately? Well, I mean, it's nearly nine, and she's been gone now for a couple of hours!"

"It's been almost four and a half!" Eleanor barked.

"No?" Brittney asked Alvin over the phone. "Oh... this is serious... okay, bye..." Brittney hung up the phone. "The boys haven't seen her, either..."

"I hope she isn't in any kind of trouble..." Eleanor said with concern.

Alvin walked up to the bedroom he shared with his brothers, and decided to tease Simon.

"Hey Simon?" Alvin asked.

"What is it, Alvin?" Simon responded.

"I think Jeanette just eloped without you!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Brittney called, Jeanette's gone! What'd you do?"

"What do you mean what did I do? What do you mean Jeanette's gone?!"

"Brittney said Jeanette hasn't come home, and she's been gone for hours."

Simon slipped off his bed, and ran over to the window, surveying all of the neighborhood.

"Jeanette's missing? Jeanette is missing?" Simon asked himself, as he peered through his telescope, trying to snoop out his missing girlfriend.

"Gee, you don't think Jeanette ran away or something, do you?" Asked Theodore, full of concern.

"Aw, why would Jeanette run away from home?" Alvin asked.

"She wouldn't!" Simon insisted, still trying to spot Jeanette. "Something must have happened to her..."

"Like what?" Alvin asked, now feeling a little concerned as well.

"I..." Simon began, "I don't want to assume the worst... but..."

"But what?" Asked Theodore.

"Maybe she's been abducted, or something?" Simon said, not seeing Jeanette anywhere.

"What does that mean?" Asked Alvin.

"In layman's terms," Simon responded, "someone might have possibly kidnapped her!"

"But who would kidnap Jeanette?" Theodore asked.

"I have no clue," Simon replied, "but that's the only explanation for Jeanette's disappearance..."

Simon continued staring out the window, hoping that he would be proven wrong, all the while, Brittney and Eleanor sadly trudge downstairs, to where Miss Miller is asleep in her easy chair.

"Go ahead, Eleanor," Brittney whispered, "wake her up..."

"Me?!" Eleanor whispered back. "It's probably your fault Jeanette's missing."

"Oh, so again we're playing the blame game, eh?"

"At least I always treat Jeanette with respect!"

"Hey, I respect Jeanette as much as the next sister!"

"Bull!"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Not exactly!"

Miss Miller slowly woke up to the sounds of her daughters arguing.

"Brittney? Eleanor?" She asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes. "What's all the commotion about?"

"Go ahead," Brittney said, shoving Eleanor closer to Miss Miller, "tell her!"

"Oh, fine," Eleanor snapped back at her big sister's ridiculous behavior, "coward!"

"What's going on?" Asked Miss Miller.

"Well," Eleanor began, "Jeanette's missing..."

"What do you mean?" Miss Miller asked, turning pale.

"We're not sure," Eleanor responded, "she's just... gone..."

Miss Miller looked over at the clock on top of the mantle, and saw it was now ten minutes after nine.

"How long has she been gone?!" Miss Miller asked with panic in her voice.

"About... four and a half hours?"

"Where did she go?!"

"I don't know, I just remember coming home, and her running out of the bedroom, and out the front door, crying."

"Crying?! Why was Jeanette crying?!"

Eleanor didn't answer her mother that time, she just simply turned to Brittney, with a sour look on her face.

"Brittney?" Miss Miller asked. "Do you have anything to do with this?"

"Aw," Brittney began, "I just had to get her back in line a bit, and she got all sensitive about it."

"And just what do you mean by having to 'get her back in line'?" Miss Miller asked, but before Brittney could respond...

"Brittney's been treating Jeanette like a slave!" Eleanor told her.

"I have not!" Brittney argued.

"You have to! Everyday, all I hear out of your mouth is 'Jeanette do this', 'Jeanette do that', 'Jeanette get me this', 'Jeanette grab me that'..."

"I'm just asking her for favors is all!"

"You boss her around, like a lacky!"

"She doesn't have to do anything for me if she doesn't want to, and she wants to!"

"She doesn't want to displease you Brittney, because if she does, you scold her, like she's a trouble-making child!"

"I don't scold her!"

"You just called her 'useless', that's why she ran out of the house crying, you hurt her feelings!"

"Girls, girls, girls!" Miss Miller hollered. "That's about enough! If Jeanette's out there, we need to find her, and when we do, I'm sitting her down for a talk... and you Brittney!"

"Why me?!" Brittney asked.

"I've never known Eleanor to lie!" Miss Miller snapped at Brittney.

Brittney didn't respond.

Moments later, Dave and Miss Miller were both combing the streets of their neighborhood, each carrying a flashlight, and each of them calling out Jeanette's name as loud as they could, and listening very carefully for any kind of response. Brittney and Eleanor waited back at Dave's house with the boys, as Simon related his theory to the sisters.

"I'm not sure," he told them, "but I'm positive Jeanette's been abducted."

"Oh my God," Eleanor responded, "you really think so?"

"Would Jeanette ever runaway from home?" He asked her.

"No, she wouldn't!" Eleanor responded.

"And she's been gone all this time?"

"Yes!"

"What other explanation is there?"

"Oh, I'm sure there are others!" Brittney snapped as Simon. "How dare you think such a thing about my little sister!"

"Alright, then what's your explanation, Brittney?" Simon asked.

Brittney didn't respond.

"Well?!" He snapped.

"Well, give me a minute!" Brittney snapped back.

"Stop it!" Eleanor snapped at both of them. "Our sister, your girlfriend, is missing, who knows where she is, or who might have her, and you two are still at each other's throats! Why can't the two of you just set aside your differences for once?"

Neither Simon, nor Brittney responded. About another hour had passed, before Dave and Miss Miller returned to Dave's house, with no luck.

"Find her?" Dave asked.

"No..." Miss Miller responded, on the verge of tears, "where can be little girl be?"

"I don't know... we'll find her, though, I'm sure of it..."

"Oh David, I hope you're right..."

"We better file a report, so we can get a search started for her..."

Later that night, everybody tried to sleep, but it was difficult for them, especially Simon and Miss Miller. And Brittney. Brittney tossed and turned in her bed, having flashbacks of what happened between her and Jeanette earlier that afternoon. She remembered how she yelled at her fragile little sister, telling her, repeatedly, how useless she is, and Jeanette running out of the room, on the verge of having a mental, and emotional breakdown. Brittney woke up.

"It is my fault!" She cried, waking up Eleanor.

"Brittney?" Eleanor asked.

"You're right, Eleanor... it's all my fault Jeanette's missing... I suck..."

"Brittney?"

"I have been treating her like she's a slave... I have been treating her badly... I hurt her feelings... now she's missing, and it's because of me!"

Eleanor slipped out of her own bed, walked over to Brittney's bed, and sat next to her, as Brittney silently cried in her hands.

"You know..." Brittney said, through her tears, "... if we ever find Jeanette... the first thing... the first thing I'm going to do is apologize to her..."

Eleanor nodded. "That's good, Brittney." She said softly.

"No more slavery," Brittney said, "from now on, Jeanette doesn't have to do a single thing for me!"

"That's good, Brittney." Eleanor said.

"And I'm going to find her!" Brittney said, a little over confident.

"Say what?" Eleanor responded.

"It's my fault Jeanette's missing, therefore, I'm going to find her!"

"But you don't know where she is, where to look..."

"I'm finding her, and that's final!"

Eleanor paused for a moment.

"Then I'm coming with yoU!" Eleanor insisted.

"It could be dangerous, Eleanor..." Brittney told her.

"I'll take my chances..."

"Fine..."

Moments later, the boys were trying to sleep, but they were awake enough to hear something being thrown against their bedroom window.

"Did you hear that?" Simon asked, as he grabbed his glasses.

"Yeah, I heard it..." Alvin responded, as he stood up on the front of his bed, and opened the window.

"Down here!" Brittney called up.

"What is it?" Alvin asked.

"Come down here, and we'll explain!" Brittney called back.

So a very short time later, the chipmunks were dressed in their regular outfits, and met the girls in their yard.

"What is this all about?" Simon asked.

"Simon?" Brittney began. "I know you and I never get along together, but we need you boys to help us find Jeanette."

"Are you crazy?" Simon asked her. "This could cause nothing but trouble if all of us turn up missing!"

"Look, Simon," Brittney continued, "you're... you're very good at solving mysteries... I'm sure you can find clues that could lead us to where Jeanette is..."

Simon sighed.

"Please, Simon?" Brittney pleaded. "I don't want to fight with you... I want to work with you this time... I want to find my little sister, and I know you want to find your girlfriend... neither of us can do it alone, we need to work together."

Simon nodded. "For once I agree with you, Brittney."

"Thank you, Simon... and I apologize for my rotten attitude towards you..."

"Allow me to apologize to you as well for my attitude towards you."

"Apology accepted."

"And I accept your apology as well."

"So," Alvin butted in, "where do we start?" 


	4. Whacha Gonna Do?

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Four "Whacha Gonna Do?"

By one o'clock in the middle of the night, the chipmunks, and the two chipettes were in front of the Miller house, each carrying a flashlight, while Simon, who was named the leader of the rescue party, gave out instructions.

"Alright," Simon began, "what we need to do is scan the surrounding area... Brittney, Eleanor, you girls head north until you make it to the end of the street, look for any signs that Jeanette might have been down there... Alvin, Theodore, you head south, I'm going to search right smack dab in the middle of the street here... got it?"

"Got it!" The rest of the gang responded before they split up. Brittney and Eleanor headed up the north end of the street like Simon commander, flashing their flashlights up and down the sidewalks and the street, looking for signs that might point to Jeanette's whereabouts, while Alvin and Theodore did the same thing down the southern end of the street. Simon whipped out his magnifying glass, got down on his hands and knees, and began observing the area around where he was standing. The first thing Simon spotted was a shoeprint, matching Jeanette's shoes, in the flowerbed behind the picket fence in front of the Miller house. Noticing a trail of soil and mulch coming from the flower bed, and down the southern end of the sidewalk, Simon deduced that Jeanette must have accidentally walked through the flowerbed, bumped in the fence, then turned around and headed towards his house. The trail wore off about halfway between the Miller house and the Seville house.

"This might be where the incident happened..." he said to himself, as he shone his flashlight around the spot where the trail of soil and mulch came to an end. He didn't find anything else, until he glanced up and saw on the other side of the street, tire tracks in the street. Simon walked over, and observed where the tire tracks started. Once again, he didn't find anything else, but at that moment, the rest of the rescue party caught up with him.

"You guys find anything?" Brittney asked.

"I didn't see anything." Theodore responded.

"Me neither." Alvin added.

"What about you, Simon?" Asked Eleanor.

"I saw a shoeprint in the flowerbed behind the fence back there," he told them, "there was a small trail of soil that ended right across the street there... here is where a set of tiretracks begin..."

"You think whoever might have kidnapped Jeanette grabbed here over there, forced her into a car that might have been sitting here?" Eleanor asked Simon.

"That's my deduction." He concluded.

"So now what?" Alvin asked.

"We simply follow these tiretracks for as far as they'll take us..." Simon added.

Jeanette slowly opened her eyes, after having blacked out from fear a few hours ago. She found herself tied to a chair, her mouth still gagged with duct tape, inside some kind of a dark room. She couldn't quite make it out, it looked like some kind of basement, or a back room, or something. She looked over to her left, and saw her captor sitting at his computer. She couldn't see what he was doing exactly. He was editing and cropping photos. Photos he took of Jeanette. One photo was of the one he took on his cellphone of her in his trunk, while the others were taken with a digital camera of her tied to the chair from different angles. One slightly disturbing photo he took was her skirt being lifted up, exposing her underwear. Jeanette suddenly remembered that this guy was the exact same guy she noticed staring at her in the convenient store earlier that day. Who exactly is this man, anyway? Whoever he was, he looked away from his computer, and noticed Jeanette was now conscious. He smiled, as he got up from his seat and made his way over to where she was bound and gagged.

"Have a nice nap?" He said, trying so hard to make his gravely voice sound soothing, even though he did a lousy job.

Jeanette's eyes were about to shed more tears as she shook her head. He bent down in front of her, in an attempt to make eye contact with her.

"Who'd a thunk it?" He asked her. "I have one of the chipettes... I don't want you to think I'm one of those crazy collectors... but as long as I have one of the real things, what do I need to start a collection for?"

Jeanette had no idea what this guy was talking about. Was he a fan of her and her sisters? An overly obsessive fan? Jeanette didn't think so. Her gut feeling was that this guy simply wanted her for the sake of having her, and knowing he has one of the chipettes, he's going to be bragging about it to her. The man slowly took Jeanette's glasses off, and rose his camera up to his eyes. Jeanette squinted to make out what he was doing.

"Keep your eyes open, dear..." he told her, which she did, as he snapped a shot of her eyes.

"Such lovely eyes," he complimented sickly, "like two, precious emeralds..." he continued, as he slipped her glasses back on.

Jeanette displayed an obvious expression of fear, and being upset on her face.

"Aw, what's the matter sweetheart?" He asked her. "Do I frighten you?"

Jeanette nodded.

"I apologize," he told her, "but no need to worry... you'll get used to me in time..."

What was that supposed to mean? Jeanette wondered, really freaking out by this guy. He ran his fingers through her hair, which she didn't like one bit.

"Get some sleep..." he told her, "I'll see you bright an early in the morning... it's going to be fun."

He walked back over to his computer, saved what his was working on, and turned it off, as he left the room. Jeanette was scared senseless now. Fun tomorrow? What kind of fun did he mean by that? What was he going to do to her? Hearing so much talks about child predators, and child molesters, Jeanette was so afraid that he was going to rape her in the morning. Jeanette had never been raped, but she had heard about it, and she didn't want it to happen to her. Especially since Miss Miller expressed her fear of learning that one of her daughters had been raped. Jeanette then did the only thing she could do. She cried. And she prayed. She cried and prayed.

The rescue party came to a hault just outside the neighborhood, as the tiretracks disappeared. Where they going to give up? No, they weren't. How where they going to continue with their search with no more clues? Simon was convinced there was another clue that the others didn't notice.

"Cigarette butts." Simon spoke up.

"Cigarette butts?" Brittany asked.

"None of us smoke, right?" Simon asked.

"I swear I don't know how that ashtray got in my underwear drawer!" Alvin blurted out.

"Well, that explains why our room always stinks now." Theodore said, half sarcastically.

"Alvin? You realize Dave is going to be very angry at you if he finds out." Simon told him.

Alvin didn't respond.

"Well, this might throw us off, if these butts belong to you, but I just now realized there was at least two butts, of the same brand of cigarettes, off the curb around where the trail left by Jeanette's shoes ended, and another one halfway down the tiretracks... and there..." Simon pointed down another street, "that looks like another one..."

"You think whoever kidnapped Jeanette was smoking these?" Eleanor asked.

"It's possible... let's follow them..." Simon suggested.

The gang walked down the street, each one of them growing weary, from not being used to being awake so late. They realized they were all getting tired, but they fought to stay awake. Even as the night sky slowly grew brighter, and brighter.

Jeanette eventually fell asleep again during the night, but she woke up when she felt someone run their finger down her cheek. It was her captor.

"Mornin' sunshine." He greeted her. He walked over to his desk, grabbed his chair, rolled it over in front of Jeanette, and took his seat.

"Sleep well?" He asked her.

Jeanette shook her head.

"Sorry to hear that." He told her. "I know what will make you feel better..." he said with a smirk. "You can sing, right?"

Jeanette's eyes darted back and forth, before she shrugged.

The man leaned over to Jeanette, grabbed ahold of the duct tape over her mouth, and slowly peeled it off, as Jeanette whimpered in pain. Once the tape was off, Jeanette inhaled a big breath of air, and wiggled her lips.

"Sing me a song." Said the man, as he leaned back, and crossed his legs.

Jeanette paused for a moment, before she fearfully spoke up. "No."

"What did you say?"

"No... no, I'm not going to sing for you..."

"You're not?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't have to sing for you if I don't want to..." Jeanette said, trying to be as confident as possible.

Jeanette's captor was not amused, as he stood up from his chair, and walked over to a set of lockers he had in the room. He began to rummage through one of them.

"So, you're not going to sing for me?" He asked.

"No." Jeanette responded.

"That's too bad," said the man, pulling a small ax out of the locker, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to hurt you, but..."

"I'll sing, I'll sing, I'll sing, I'll sing, I'll sing!" Jeanette cried, scared to death of the ax he was pulling out of the locking.

The man chuckled. "That was too easy," he said as he walked back over to Jeanette, holding the ax up close to her face, "well, go ahead, sing for me."

Jeanette gulped loudly, took a deep breath, opened her mouth wide, and prepared to deliver a song to her kidnapper, but faced one problem... "I can't think of a song!" She said.

"Can you not?" He asked.

"Not off the top of my head, while my life is hanging by a thread, no..." she replied.

The man grabbed the wastebasket next to his desk, turned it upside down, placed Jeanette's foot on it, and raised the ax up into the air, preparing to chop her leg off, when...

"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes..." Jeanette belted out, "she'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes, she'll be comin' round the mountain, she'll be comin' round the mountain, she'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes..."

The man lowered the ax.

"Oh we'll all go out to meet her when she comes, oh we'll all go out to meet her when she comes, oh we'll all go out to meet her, oh we'll all go out to meet her, oh we'll all go out to meet her when she comes... and we'll all have chicken and dumplins when she comes, and we'll all have chicken and dumplins when she comes, and we'll all have chicken and dumplins, and we'll have have chicken and dumplins, and we'll all have chicken and dumplins when she comes!"

The man took the wastebasket out from underneath Jeanette's foot, and placed it back next to his desk, as she sighed in relief.

Brittney's cell phone started beeping.

"What's that sound?" Simon asked.

"Oh... I think the battery in my phone is about dead..." Brittney told him, as she pulled it out of the pocket of her skirt.

"Wait a minute... you have your phone with you?" Simon asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Jeanette always carries her cell phone with her!"

"I cannot believe we didn't think of this from the start!"

"Try calling her, see if she, or anybody answers!"

The man resumed his conversation with Jeanette.

"So, how old are you?"

"Eight." She told him.

"Smart as a whip for a girl your age..." he complimented.

Jeanette was about to speak again when her cell phone began ringing.

"What the hell is that?" He asked her.

"Uh... nothing..." she lied.

Her captor stood up, and leaned over Jeanette, listening carefully at this funky, little tune, which seemed to be coming from the pocket in her sweater. He reached in, and pulled out her phone, and saw the caller I.D. revealed Brittney was calling her.

"Brittney's calling you..." he told her, "that's your sister, right?"

"Um... yeah..." Jeanette responded.

"Well, you tell her you're alright, you got that?" He asked. "If she asks you where you're at, and you tell her, you're going to be in big trouble, got that?!"

Jeanette nodded in fear, as he opened her phone for her, and positioned it so Jeanette could speak into it.

"Hello?" Her voice cracked through the phone.

"Jeanette?!" Brittney exclaimed. "Jeanette, is that really you?!"

"Yeah, it's me alright..." Jeanette responded.

"Jeanette?" Simon spoke into the phone, as he took it from Brittney. "Are you alright?!"

"Oh yeah, I'm perfectly fine..." Jeanette lied.

"Where are you? We're worried sick about you!"

"Uh... uh... uh... I... uh... I was just... uh... uh... uh..."

The man rolled his eyes, and closed Jeanette's phone, disconnecting her from the others. "Oh, for cryin' out loud!" He exclaimed.

"I'm sorry!" Jeanette cried. "I couldn't think of how to answer the question... I... I..."

Jeanette's mouth was retaped, as the man turned her phone off.

"Never mind." He told her, as he left the room, pocketing her phone. 


	5. I Like Big Bucks

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Five "I Like Big Bucks"

"Jeanette?" Simon asked into Brittney's cell phone, after he though her heard it being hung up. "Jeanette? Are you there? Jeanette?!"

Simon handed Brittney's phone back to her.

"What happened?!" Brittney asked, freaking out.

"She just hung up!" Simon exclaimed.

Brittney dropped to her knees, and began to cry, uncontrolably.

"My little sister's in trouble!" Brittney cried. "We've got to help her! We've got to help her!"

"I realize that!" Simon cried out. "Come on, we're wasting time, let's try to find her..."

Jeanette's captor was in the kitchen, buttering toast, when he suddenly had an idea... now that Jeanette has connections, who realize she's missing, and possibly in trouble, they're obviously going to try to call her again. Well, he's not about to part with Jeanette easily... but if he got something just as good in return...

Brittney's cell phone began ringing, the caller I.D. said it was Jeanette.

"It's Jeanette!" Brittney cried.

"Well answer it!" Eleanor pleaded.

"Hello?" Brittney answered the phone.

"Hello, Brittney..." was what Brittney heard from the gravely voice of Jeanette's kidnapper.

"It's not Jeanette..." Brittney whispered to the rest of the group, as she covered the mouthpiece of her phone.

"Well talk to whoever it is, anyway!" Simon suggested. "Maybe he'll share information with us!"

"He-he-hello?" Brittney responded into the phone.

"So, Brittney..." said Jeanette's captor, "it's been a while since you've seen your sister, huh?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Would you like to see her again?"

"Please! Please, please, please!"

"Not so fast there, Brittney, you can see Jeanette again..."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"If..."

"'If'?"

"If I get something in return..."

"Something in return?!"

"Do you even realize how valuable your sister is?"

"'Valuable'? Of course I realize Jeanette is valuable! But what do you mean by that?"

"I'm not about to let her loose again anytime soon, unless I get something just as valuable in return..."

Brittney covered her phone again, "this guy's crazy!" She whispered. "He won't let Jeanette go, unless we give him something just as valuable in return!"

"Ask him what he wants!" Eleanor pleaded.

"Whatever he wants, it can be replaced!" Simon told her. "Jeanette can't. We'll give him whatever he wants, if it means getting Jeanette back!"

Brittney gulped, and resumed the phone conversation, "so... what did you have in mind, valuable-wise?"

"Oh, nothing big," said the villain, "just five million dollars."

"Five million dollars?!" Brittney responded.

"Five million dollars?" The others asked, not sure if they were hearing correctly.

"Surely you're sister's worth that?" Asked Jeanette's captor.

"Jeanette's worth more than!" Brittney exclaimed, defending her sister's honor.

"I agree," he responded, "make it ten million dollars!"

"I didn't mean... I mean... wait a minute..." Brittney began.

"Ten million dollars, and that's final."

"But we don't have ten million dollars!"

"Ten million?!" The others shrieked.

"Well," he told Brittney, "you better get me ten million dollars, if you want to get Jeanette back."

Brittney sighed, hopelessly.

"I'll tell you what," he said, "if this is too much trouble for you, you don't have to get me ten million dollars."

"Really?" Brittney asked, hopefully.

"Really," he replied, "if you can't get your hands on ten million dollars for me, I'll just keep Jeanette all to myself."

"We'll get you your money! We'll get you your money!"

"Good. Now I don't have time to waste, so you've got forty-eight hours."

"Forty-eight hours?"

"Two days."

"As opposed to forty-eight hours?"

"Just get me my money by then, if you want Jeanette again." He hung up.

Brittney hung up as well.

"So?" Simon asked. "We have to give this character ten million dollars in forty-eight hours, or he won't release Jeanette?!"

"That's what he said..." Brittney replied, on the verge of tears once again.

Jeanette had no idea what to expect next, that is until her kidnapper walked back into the room, and sat down in front of her again.

"It's all just a big waiting game, now." He told her.

"Hmm?" Jeanette mumbled through the tape over her mouth.

"If your sister can come up with ten million dollars for me in the next two days? You're free to go..." he told her, as he began to tickle her chin with his finger, freaking her out, "I believe you are worth every penny of that price, don't you?"

Jeanette couldn't answer, so, all she could do was basically shrug. Never before had she ever thought of herself... her physical body, her mind, her life... as being valuable. At cash value that is. Was she worth ten million dollars? She had no idea. Miss Miller would tell her she was more valuable than any amount of money in the world.

"In the meantime," he continued, "I'll take care of you..." he finished, as he placed his hands on Jeanette's knees, slowly moving them up her thighs, under her skirt, as Jeanette tried to press her thighs together, thinking he was about to do something ugly, and unclean, like try to remove her underwear.

Simon borrowed Brittney's cell phone once again, in an attempt to call Dave.

"Simon," Brittney began, "the battery's almost dead!"

"We have to get ahold of Dave!" he told her.

At that moment, Dave was about to call the police again to report the disappearance of his boys, when the phone started ringing.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Dave! We contacted the person who kidnapped Jeanette!" Simon said into Brittney's phone.

"What?!" Dave replied. "Simon? Where are you kids?!"

"We're on the corner of Henley Street, and Hannibal Drive," Simon told him, "but we got in contact with the person who kidnapped Jeanette!"

"And?" Dave asked.

"He says he wants us to pay him ten million dollars within the next forty-eight hours, or we'll never see her again!"

"Terrific..." Dave sighed, "are you kids alright?"

"For the most part..."

"Good, stay right where you are, I'll drive by to pick you kids up, right after I place another call to the police with this information, okay? Okay? Simon? Simon?!"

"It died..." Simon said, as he handed Brittney her phone.

"So, what do we now?" Brittney asked.

"I guess we'll have to come up with ten million dollars, somehow..." Alvin said.

"How?" Theodore asked. "The only way we could come up with that amount of money, in such a short time, would be to rob a bank!"

Everyone paused for a moment, before Simon let out a small sigh.

"Simon... we're not..." Eleanor began.

"What else can we do?" Simon asked. "God only knows what this guy is going to do to Jeanette if we don't get the money to him..."

"Suppose he still doesn't let Jeanette go when we give him the money?" Eleanor asked.

Simon sighed again.

"What we need to do," Alvin added, "is find out where this guy is, and try to bust Jeanette out!"

With no other alternative in mind, Simon had to agree with Alvin. "That's the only thing we can do..." he said, "but this could be very dangerous... we don't know if this guy is armed, or just how dangerous he really is... one thing is for sure... we're going to have to be very discrete about this... you guys sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely!" Brittney cried out. "We must save Jeanette, no matter what!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Simon asked. "Let's follow these cigarette butts to where ever it leads us, and hope we'll find Jeanette alive, and okay!"

The gang pressed on down the street again, while Dave tried calling each of the boys' cell phones, only to hear them ringing upstairs in their bedroom. "I thought I told those boys to carry their phones with them at all times!" Dave said to himself, as he called Miss Miller.

Miss Miller was already awake, and saw her other two girls were missing. First Jeanette, possibly being kidnapped, and now Brittney and Eleanor going missing, Miss Miller was having an emotional breakdown when she heard the phone ring.

"Hello?" She wailed, as she answered the phone.

"Miss Miller?" Dave asked. "The girls are alright!"

"How did you know they were missing?" She sniffed.

"Because my boys are missing too," he explained, "but Simon called me just five minutes ago, he told me where they're at, and he told me that they contacted Jeanette's kidnapper, and what he wants in exchange for her return!"

"What? What does he want? I'll give him anything he wants, just to get my baby back safe and sound!"

"Ten million dollars."

"But I don't have ten million dollars!"

"None of us do, that's why I'm about to call the police, and let them know what this guy is asking for."

"Oh, bless you David!" 


	6. No Gain? Pain

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Six "No Gain... Pain"

When David Seville did Miss Miller a favor by filing a missing persons report to the LAPD, officers were immediately combing the area, looking for the missing Jeanette. Now, with a new report filed by Dave, telling the officers whoever has Jeanette is wanting a total of ten million dollars in exchange for her return. The police called in an undercover agent as a hostage negociator. But, there was still two problems. The first was that they still had no idea exactly where this criminal was, or where he's keeping Jeanette hostage. The second was that Brittney's cell phone had died when Dave tried to tell the rest of the kids to stay put so he could come and pick them up. Because of this, the kids didn't know about Dave's instructions, and had long resumed their quest to find the missing Jeanette. Dave pulled up to the location of which Simon had told them where they were at, but saw no signs of his sons, nor Brittney, nor Eleanor for that matter.

"Simon?!" Dave hollered. "Simon! Alvin! Theodore! Brittney! Eleanor!"

No sign of the kids, and no answer to their names, Dave was really feeling frustrated.

"Where could those kids be now?" He wondered. "If the boys' cell phones are at home, how did Simon call from here? Unless..."

Dave drove all the way back home again, and stepped next door to Miss Miller's house.

"Miss Miller?" He asked. "Do the girls have their phones with them?"

"Oh, I don't know, David," Miss Miller replied, still very emotionally, and mentally distraught, "I suppose so, why?"

"None of the boys took their phones with them," he told her, "so when Simon called earlier, there was no other way he could've called me, unless he used either Brittney, or Eleanor's phones..."

Jeanette was having trouble keeping her eyes open, she hadn't consumed any sustanance since lunch yesterday afternoon, and was lacking a significant amount of energy. Her captor was going through the contacts list on her phone, until he came across a contact that sounded interesting to him...

"Who's Miss Miller?" He asked. "A teacher of your's?"

Jeanette shook her head, and mumbled through her gag, "mh mhhmhh..."

"Your what?" He asked. "Your mother?"

Jeanette slowly nodded her head, as he began to smirk.

"I'm not getting anything on Brittney's phone," Miss Miller told Dave as she hung up, "I swear, that girl never charges that thing when I ask her to..."

"Well," Dave responded, "let's try Eleanor's phone, and see if she answers..."

But before Miss Miller called Eleanor's number, there was a knock at the door. It was the police.

"Miss Miller?" Asked the captain.

"Yes?" She responded.

"Ma'am, we're here to let you know that we've called in a hostage negociator for the situation regarding your abducted daughter."

"Oh, thank heavens..."

"We need to know one thing, though," a sergeant added, "how do we contact this criminal?"

"You said you made contact." Another sergeant added as well.

"Uh, no, it was my son," Dave told them, "he told me they received a call from the man holding Jeanette hostage..."

"Do we know what number this man is calling from?" Asked the captain, but before Dave, or Miss Miller could respond, the phone rang.

"Who could that be?" Miss Miller asked herself, as she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello." Said a gravely voice, Miss Miller had never heard before.

"Who is this?" Miss Miller asked the mysterious voice on the phone.

"That's not important," he told her, "what is important is your daughter... little Jeanette..."

Miss Miller placed her hand over the mouthpiece, "it's him! It's the man who kidnapped Jeanette!" She cried, as she handed the phone to the police.

The captain pushed the phone back to Miss Miller, "he's calling you, you're the one who has to talk to him!"

"But..." Miss Miller began.

"Just try to get any information from him, see if we can't find out where he is, then tell us what he tells you!"

"Okay..." Miss Miller said sadly, as she continued her conversation with the man over the phone, "is Jeanette alright?"

"Yes, she is," he assured her, "for right now, anyway."

"Where are you keeping her? Please tell me!" Miss Miller pleaded.

"Hold on to your gurtle, grandma..." said the man, as he fiddled with the ax in his hand, "I need you to be aware that I'm not handing over the girl, unless my demands are met..."

"You're asking for ten million dollars?"

"Is that too much to ask of Brittney?"

"Brittney?! You've got Brittney too?!"

"No, I don't, but she's to bring me my ten million dollars, in exchange for her sister."

"But Brittney's just a little girl! There's no way she can get her hands on ten million dollars for you!"

"Well, I'm getting ten million dollars from somebody... how about you?"

"I don't have ten million dollars either..."

The man stood up from his chair, and stepped beside Jeanette. "You don't?"

"No!" Miss Miller cried, "I don't!"

"That's too bad..." the man said, "of course, I am allowing a two day grace period... but, it seems to me that you all don't take this seriously..."

Miss Miller wasn't sure what happened, but she heard in the background a crigeworthy sound, and although Jeanette was gagged, her blood curdling scream was loud and clear over the phone.

"No!" Miss Miller screamed, tears flooding her eyes.

"You going to get me my money?" He asked her.

"We'll get the money! We'll get the money!"

"Good... you remember Jeanette's cell number, right?"

"Of course I do..." Miss Miller said, as her voice began breaking up.

"You now have a day and a half to get me my money... as soon as you get your hands on it, give me a call on this number... I'll give you further details of where you can pick her up..."

He hung up after that, as did Miss Miller.

"What happened?!" Dave asked, very concerned.

"I... I think he hurt Jeanette..." Miss Miller said breathlessly, "I heard this awful noise, followed by her screaming..."

"What did he say?" Asked the police captain.

"He said to call him back as soon as somebody gets their hands of ten million dollars for him, then he'll tell us where Jeanette can be picked up, and the money can be dropped off."

"Did he give you a number?" A sergeant asked.

"He's calling from Jeanette's cell phone number." Miss Miller told them.

"Perhaps we can trace the number, and sniff out this man's location?" The captain questioned out loud.

The rest of the kids, exhausted from their persuit, continued following a trail of cigarette butts further down a long street in another neighborhood.

"Simon?" Theodore asked. "Can't we stop and rest for just a minute?"

Simon turned around and faced his little brother, "Jeanette may not have another minute." He said in a strict tone of voice.

"Simon's right," Brittney added, "every minute we delay could cost Jeanette her life, we need to keep going!"

And so, the quest continued. Another cigarette was lit, as the criminal lit himself another smoke. He turned around and focused his attention on Jeanette, who was crying very hard. He walked over to her, placed his fingers under her chin, and lifted her head up.

"I'm sorry, angel..." he told her, "I didn't mean to hurt you... but it was necessary..."

Jeanette sniffed really loudly. Her kidnapper realized he had to do something for her, so he stepped into his bathroom, grabbed a hand full of gause, and a rolled up ace bandage. With that, he placed the gause over the huge, bloody gash in Jeanette's right thigh, and wrapped it up with the ace bandage. The cringeworthy sound Miss Miller heard over the phone was the sound of the blade of the ax hitting Jeanette's thigh, which is why she let out the blood curdling scream. The pain was beyond imagination for Jeanette. She couldn't take it. She thought she only had a matter of minutes before the pain grew too intense for her to handle, and she eventually expires.

"And daddy kiss it, make it better..." he said in a very sick tone, as he finished wrapping up Jeanette's thigh, and kissed it. Jeanette was disgusted. What kind of a sick man was this? A very sick man, because he didn't stop kissing Jeanette's thigh. As a matter of fact, he began kissing down Jeanette's right leg, before moving over to her left leg, and kissing up it. Once he reached her left thigh, he tried to pull her legs apart, but Jeanette tried very hard to keep him from doing that, by resisting him. It was no use. Jeanette was growing weaker by the moment, and the man succeeded in pulling her legs apart, so he could start kissing her in an inappropriate spot. Jeanette began crying again. She didn't like this. It wasn't a good feeling. She was about to experience another, unpleasant feeling, this man's cigarette was still between his fingers, and as he continued to kiss Jeanette's private area, his hands relaxed, which allowed the cigarette to fall loose from his fingers. It laid on top of Jeanette's left thigh, and began to burn her. Jeanette shrieked, but he didn't let it stop him, thinking she was just doing it to get him to stop, but she started shaking her left leg violently, even hitting him in the side of the head with her knee. He stopped, and realized what has happened, as the cigarette rolled off her thigh, and landed on the floor. He stood up, and put the cigarette out with his boot. Once again, he focused he attention on Jeanette.

"That was an accident," he said softly, "I'm sorry."

Jeanette looked up at him, with her eyes, absolutely red from crying so much. So red were her eyes, they looked nearly bloodshot. He stepped into the bathroom again, grabbed some aloe cream, and rubbed it on Jeanette's burn. He looked into her eyes again, and suddenly, asked a question that she never thought she'd hear him ask.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

Jeanette shook her head. The man sighed, stood up, and walked out of the room without saying another word. Jeanette was so confused. This man was very strange... one minute, he can be calm and cool, the next he can become loud and violent, then he can be quite perverse and amorous, now, he seems rather sympathetic. Jeanette was beginning to wonder if her captor was a bit on the mentally unstable side. Jeanette stopped wondering. Her lack of energy, and the severe pain she felt was too much for her to bear. She slipped out of consciousness. 


	7. The Most Beautiful Sight I've Ever Seen

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Seven "The Most Beautiful Sight I've Ever Seen"

Miss Miller paced back and forth in her living room, biting her nails, while Dave sat on the sofa, fiddling his thumbs, both of them awaiting for more instructions from the police.

"I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to my baby," Miss Miller said out loud, not really directing to either herself, nor Dave, "my sweet, precious, little angel..."

Dave didn't respond. He couldn't think of anything to say to make Miss Miller feel better.

"David..." Miss Miller continued, "you know what Jeanette did for me this past Mother's Day?"

Dave shook his head, "I have no idea."

"She wrote me a sonnet..." she told him, as she walked over to the mirror of the halltree, where she had it sitting. "Just listen to this..."

Miss Miller began to recite the sonnet Jeanette wrote for her for Mother's Day.

Every girl in the world deserves a mother.  
You are a mother like no other.  
When my sisters and I had nowhere else to go.  
You took us in with you and let us know.  
That you are a mother who will love us dearly.  
And you love each one of us very sincerely.  
Sometimes we may not show it, but we love you too.  
Our love for you is strong, everlasting, and true.  
A mother is the most important person to a girl.  
I know I can come to you when I have no one else in the world.  
You are the greatest mother ever.  
My love for you will go on forever.  
Thank you for being there for me.  
You fill my life with wonder, joy, and glee.

Miss Miller started crying.

"That was so beautiful." Dave complimented.

"Just like her," Miss Miller said through her tears, "only a beautiful soul like her's could write something so heartfelt like this... and to think I may never see her again..."

Miss Miller held the paper up to her heart, and continued to cry.

"We'll get her back," Dave told her, "I'm sure of it."

"Oh David," Miss Miller sobbed, "why be optimistic about this? There's no way we can get ten million dollars to get my baby girl back..."

The doorbell rang, so the distraught Miss Miller answered it, and saw the police had returned.

"We've got the ten million dollars." The captain told her.

"What?!" Miss Miller shrieked.

Alvin's red baseball cap was nearly full of the same cigarette butts that the rescue party were trailing. Without realizing Simon walked into a small patch of grass where he found a pile of the butts.

"Somebody's got quite the addiction here." He said.

"Uh, Simon?" Brittney spoke up.

"What?" He asked.

"Look..."

Simon stood up and surveyed the surrounding. He had lead them to a very run down, rancher house, hardly any yard, absolutely no leaves on the tree out front, all kinds of boxes and assorted other junk cluttering the carport, which is why he found the car was parked in the driveway, and that the pile butts was right where the driver would toss them when he's finished as he got in and out of his car.

"You think this is it?" Eleanor asked.

"I don't know," Simon said, "but I have a hunch..."

Simon got on the driveway, and observed the tires of the beat up car.

"These tires look like the tracks we found on the street back there..." he concluded.

"This has to be it!" Brittney squealed.

Jeanette may have been hurt, but it was clear that she needs to be kept alive, her kidnapper could tell Jeanette hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours, and that her energy was wasting away. That's when he stepped out of the house.

"There he is!" Simon whispered to the others, as he motioned for them to duck behind the setup of trashcans at the end of the driveway. They watched quietly as this man got into his car, pull out of the driveway, and drive off. For where? Unbeknownst to them, he was going to grab some burgers for Jeanette and himself.

"Now's our chance!" Simon told them.

"How do you want to do this?" Brittney asked.

"Okay... Alvin, Theodore, and I will keep watch out there, while you girls step inside, and try to find Jeanette." Simon related to them. "If anything goes wrong, whistle three times, that will be the signal for us to get out of here, and quickly.

"Got it!" Eleanor responded.

"Let's do it!" Simon commanded.

The five of them emerged from their hiding spot. Simon went around back, Alvin headed for the front door, while Theodore went around to the other side of the house. Brittney stepped through the front door, followed by Eleanor.

"Jeanette!" Eleanor called out, before Brittney placed her hands over her mouth.

"Shh!" Brittney whispered. "You don't know who else might be in here!"

"Right." Eleanor whispered back.

Brittney and Eleanor stepped out from the front hall, and into the living room. The house was a mess. They could tell a single man lived here.

"Eleanor?" Brittney whispered. "You check down that side of the house, I'll check this side."

"Got it." Eleanor whispered back.

Eleanor quietly made her way down the hallway, while Brittney stepped into the kitchen. Eleanor went through the broom closet, the bathroom, and the two back bedrooms, including the closets, looking for Jeanette. Brittney looked through the pantry, before opening a second door, revealing a staircase down into a dark room. The only light in the room came from the light coming through the window. Brittney gulped before descending the staircase. Once she reached the bottom of the rickety, wooden, she had to pause for a moment, to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She saw she was in a basement/bedroom, and off to the side was the sight she had been missing for so long.

"It's counterfeit money," the captain told Miss Miller, "but it's the exact amount he wants... this should make him happy..."

"But we're still going to talk to this guy if things get ugly," added the negociator, "which we hope it won't."

"So, are we ready?" Miss Miller asked, hopefully.

"We are." Said the captain, "we've traced the cell phone number to this address, in case he tries to throw us off... call him."

"Okay..." Miss Miller said hesitantly.

The villain was leaving the drive thru at Burger King, when Jeanette's cell phone started ringing, and he saw it was Miss Miller.

"Hello, Miss Miller." He answered.

"Okay..." she cracked into the phone, "I've got your money..."

"You do?" He asked. "What did you do? Rob a bank?"

"What matters how I got it? What matters is that I got your money... now how can I get my baby back?"

"Under the cover of darkness, the exchange will be made at the pier."

"The pier?" She asked, as the police noted the location, realizing it was close to where this guy lived.

"You can drop the money under the lamppost at the end of the pier."

"What about my Jeanette?!"

"You will return to your vehicle. Once I am assured that the money I require is in whatever you have it in, be it a bag, or a suitcase, I will send her on her way."

"Is that it?"

"That's it. Remember, under the cover of darkness." He hung up.

"The pier, after dark." Miss Miller told the police.

Brittney made her way over to her little sister, who appeared to be unconscious, tied to the chair.

"Jeanette?" She asked hesistantly. "Jeanette?" Brittney walked up closer, and caressed Jeanette's cheek with the back of her finger. "Jeanette?"

"Hmm?" Jeanette mumbled as she slowly opened her eyes.

Brittney, very carefully, removed the tape from Jeanette's mouth, as Jeanette breathed a loud sigh of relief. "We're here for you, Jeanette, don't worry..." Brittney stepped around Jeanette, and began to untie her hands from behind the chair. When that was finished, Jeanette began rubbing her wrists, as Brittney helped her to her feet.

"Brittney..." Jeanette mumbled, as she almost fell over on top of her big sister, "Brittney, Brittney, Brittney..." Jeanette used what energy she had left to wrap her arms around Brittney, as Brittney did the same to Jeanette.

"You're going to be okay," Brittney said in a loving tone, "we're going to get you out of here."

Jeanette cried. "Oh Brittney... you're the most beautiful sight I have ever seen..."

"Just being able to see you again is the most beautiful sight I've ever seen." Brittney responded.

Jeanette choked a little, as she continued to cry, burying her face into the scarf around Brittney's neck. Seeing Brittney again, smelling Brittney again, feeling Brittney again, Jeanette almost felt like her old self again, knowing that she had been reunited with her big sister.

"Jeanette," Brittney spoke up, "I'm so sorry for everything I've done... for bossing you around... for treating you like my slave... for hurting your feelings... for... for telling you that you're useless..."

"I don't care about that..." Jeanette mumbled, "please, Brittney, just take me home. I want to go home."

"We'll take you home, Jeanette."

"Oh, Brittney, Brittney, you're an angel of mercy..."

"Oh, Jeanette..." Brittney whispered softly in to her little sister's tender ear, as she slowly kissed her on the cheek. "Can you walk?" She asked her, seeing that her right leg had been wounded.

"I can barely stand." Jeanette mumbled.

Brittney realized Jeanette had virtually no energy. "Don't worry," she assured her little sister, "I'll help you..."

Brittney did just that, as she helped Jeanette towards the staircase.

Out, around the side of the house, Theodore had gathered a few walnuts, and was cracking them open with a cracker he had in his pocket. With his mouth full of chewed up walnuts, he wasn't able to whistle three times, when he saw the kidnapper's car pulling into the neighborhood. He tried, but he couldn't, so he ran over to Alvin, and tried to whistle at him.

"What are you eating?" Alvin asked, slightly annoyed.

Theodore still kept trying to whistle, but he just kept spitting up little chunks of walnuts.

"How can you eat at a time like this, Theodore?" Alvin asked him. "We need to be on the look for..."

Theodore finally swallowed the mouth full of walnuts, and cried out, "Whistle, whistle, whistle!"

Alvin looked up and saw the car approaching the house.

"Aw crap!" He cried, as he grabbed Theodore, and ran into the house. "Eleanor! Brittney! He's back, he's back! We've got to get out of here!"

Eleanor came running out of one of the back bedrooms. "Oh no! Brittney?! Brittney?!"

"We're coming!" Brittney shouted from the bottom of the stairs in the basement.

Alvin, Theodore, and Eleanor ran into the kitchen, and to the open basement door.

"Are you down there?!" Alvin cried.

"We're coming up!" Brittney called back.

"Are you okay, Jeanette?!" Eleanor cried.

"She's tired and hurt!" Brittney called back.

Eleanor ran out the backdoor, as Simon ran towards it.

"I know, I heard!" Simon said. "Did we find Jeanette?!"

"Brittney says she's hurt," Eleanor told him, "I think she's having trouble getting her upstairs!"

"Alright," Simon responded, "you, Alvin, Theodore, get out now!"

"But Simon..." Alvin started.

"You guys save yourselves, I'll help Brittney with Jeanette!"

Simon shoved his way into the house, past Alvin, Theodore, and Eleanor, as they ran out the backdoor. Simon rushed down the stairs to where Brittney struggled to help Jeanette up.

"Come on," Simon said, as he took Jeanette's arm, "we're fighting time."

It was too late. The three of them heard the front door open and shut.

"Oh no!" Brittney yelped.

Jeanette's captor heard that loud, and clear, and made his way over to the open basement door.

"What's going on here?!" He barked, as he looked down to find Brittney and Simon trying to help Jeanette up the stair. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"We're saving my little sister!" Brittney barked back.

"I don't think so." He replied, as his pulled a small handgun out of his jacket pocket, and pointed it directly at her. "Step away from her, or you all get it!" 


	8. Over My Dead Body

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Eight "Over My Dead Body"

"Go on now! Step away from my girl, or you all get it!" Yelled the maniac with the gun in his hand.

"Your girl?!" Brittney snapped back. "She isn't your girl! She's my sister!"

"I'm not going to tell you again... step... away... from her... now!" The kidnapper waved his handgun at Brittney and Simon as they attempted to help Jeanete escape. Brittney looked at Simon, who simply winked at her. She knew he had another idea in store. So saying, she and Simon reluctantly helped Jeanette back down the three stairs Brittney had helped her up. Brittney and Simon stepped away from Jeanette, as she fell to the floor, unable to stand or walk. Her kidnapper walked down the stairs, and over to her body.

"Alright," he ordered, "get back to your chair. Now."

Jeanette simply couldn't move. She had no energy at all by this point. He kicked Jeanette in the back, as she yelped out.

"I said get back to your chair!" He barked again.

Simon had quietly snuck over to a tool chest that was in the room, grabbed a sledgehammer, and quietly snuck over to the criminal, and with all his might, he brought up the sledgehammer, and smashed his hand. He screamed in agony, as the gun dropped to the floor, allowing Brittney to siese the moment, and grab the gun, and aim it at the kidnapper, who was so pathetic, rolling around on the floor, holding his broken hand, and crying out in extreme pain. Simon dropped the hammer, and ran over to Jeanette's body, scooped her up, and ran upstairs, followed shortly by Brittney, who kept her aim on the man, before she ran up the stairs.

Once out in the backyard, the others gathered around Jeanette.

"Are you alright, Jeanette?" Alvin asked.

"We were so worried about you!" Theodore added.

"We thought we'd never see you again!" Eleanor added.

"Come on, we need to get out of here!" Simon cried out.

The gang ran around the house, and towards the sidewalk, when Jeanette's kidnapper came busting out the front door, with a rifle in his one good hand.

"Come back here with my girl!" He screamed after them, trying so very hard to fire his rifle at them, but missing miserably. He then struggled to get back into his car to chase after them, which was difficult for him, until he was back on the street, and drove after them.

The kids seemed like goners for a while, until they spotted a pickup truck stopped at stop sign. They ran over to it, Alvin and Theodore climbed into the bed, as they helped pull Jeanette up, as Simon, Brittney, and Eleanor hopped in after them, just as the truck took off again down the street, though the criminal still gave chase.

Eleanor easily hugged her big sister, as Jeanette rested her head on top of Eleanor's.

"Thanks so much for... for saving me everybody..." Jeanette struggled to say, as she tried hard to keep her eyes open.

"We couldn't have done it without Simon." Brittney told her.

"But it wouldn't have been possible without Brittney." Simon responded.

Jeanette suddenly gasped, and squinted her eyes shut.

"What's the matter?" Eleanor asked worried.

"Pain..." Jeanette told her, "I'm in so much pain..."

"Where at?" Eleanor asked, concerned.

"All over..." Jeanette mumbled.

"That maniac kicked Jeanette right in her back... and there's some kind of wound on her leg..." Brittney told her.

Eleanor lifted up Jeanette's skirt, and saw the bloody ace bandage, wrapped around her thigh.

"He did that to you?!" Simon asked, pissed.

"With an ax..." Jeanette told him. "Oh... oh it hurts so bad..." Jeanette said through her teeth, as the pain started up again.

"Don't worry, Jeanette," Eleanor said, pressing down on Jeanette's sore thigh, to further help stop the bleeding, "we'll have you home soon, we can get you to a hospital!"

"Man, he's gaining on us!" Theodore cried out, as he spotted the relentless kidnapper gain up on them.

"Let's throw whatever we can at him!" Alvin suggested, as he dumped his hatful of cigarette butts out, allowing them scatter all over the villain's windshield, with disrupted his vision temporarily.

Simon grabbed a large, monkey wrench, that was in the bed with them, and tossed it at the car behind them, crashing right through the windshield, while Eleanor tossed a 2x4 at him. That did it. The 2x4 went through the windshield, and hit the man in the forehead, knocking him out, and causing his car to lose control, as it plowed into a street light, killing the transmission. The chipmunks and chipettes were over joyed.

"We did it!" Brittney squealed. "We did it! We did it! We did it!"

"He won't bother you anymore, Jeanette!" Eleanor squealed, as she kissed Jeanette on the cheek, while Jeanette slipped out of consciousness again. "We better get her home soon!"

Dave started punishing himself with guilt when he realized that the whole situation with Jeanette had caused him to forget all about his boys, as well as Brittney and Eleanor. "Until we're ready to head down to the pier, I'm going to look for the rest of them..."

"Not so fast there, Mr. Seville," the police captain spoke up, "we'll be happy to help you search for them, if we find them, we'll continue on for the pier from there."

"That will be fine." Dave said.

Within no time, Dave was in the back of a patrol car, heading down the street, followed by Miss Miller in her car, on their search for the chipmunks and the chipettes began. Unfortunately, at that time, the truck bearing the kids pulled turned onto their street just seconds after Dave, Miss Miller, and the police pulled out. Just before the truck drove past their houses, they each carefully slipped out of the bed, though Simon cradled Jeanette as he slipped off.

"Home, sweet home." Eleanor said.

"Let's get Jeanette inside, quickly!" Brittney said, as Simon carried her into the Miller house.

"Miss Miller!" Brittney called out. "We found Jeanette! We brought her home!"

Silence.

"Miss Miller?" Eleanor called out. "Hello?"

Silence.

"Where could she be?" Brittney asked. "You think she went out looking for us?"

"It's possible," Simon said, "after all, Dave was wondering where we were... Dave!"

Moments later, Alvin and Theodore walked into the chipettes' bedroom.

"Dave's gone too, Simon." Theodore told him.

"He must be out looking for us too." Alvin added.

"The best thing for us to do," Simon suggested, "would be for all of us to just wait here until they come home..." Simon then sighed, as he looked down on Jeanette's nearly lifeless body in her bed, "then, hopefully, we can get Jeanette to a hospital."

"Jeanette is probably malnurished..." Eleanor said, "we ought to get something into her stomach in the meantime..."

"But she's unconscious." Theodore said.

"I'll make her a smoothe..." Eleanor left the room and stepped downstairs.

"Look at her," Brittney said, as she sat next to Jeanette, "she looks so pitiful..."

Simon held Jeanette's hand. "What all in the world did this man do to her?"

"Whatever he did," Brittney responded, "he's going to pay! I swear to God, he's going to pay!"

The police made it down the street where Jeanete's kidnapper lived, as a hunch, and found the wrecked car. "We might want to check that out..." said the sergeant in the passenger seat.

They pulled over, and the cops stepped out of their car, and walked over to the wrecked car. No one was inside. One of the cops went through the glove compartment to search for the owner's registration. He found it. The car belonged to a man by the name of Craig Bromson. A quick check of his record revealed that the only crimes that he had been guilty of in the past were criminal loitering, and vagrancy. The police had a hunch this was the man they were dealing with, and confirming his address, they stormed his house, but saw no sign of anybody. Once down in the basement, they went through the files on his computer, and there they were. The photos he had taken of Jeanette. They had proof. He was the one who kidnapped Jeanette Miller. Another cop even found the ax that was used to chop Jeanette's leg. They would send a blood sample to their crime lab to see if it would match Jeanette's, but they were pretty sure it was.

"This is our man, alright," the captain said to Miss Miller, "we found some rather disturbing photos on his computer that proves he's the one who kidnapped your daughter."

Miss Miller gulped. "How disturbing are they?"

"Well..." the captain responded, "... he seems to have enjoyed photographing her bound and gagged... we found one close up shot of her eyes... and another of her... um... he appeared to be lifting up her skirt, exposing her underwear..."

"Ohh..." Miss Miller said, feeling sick. "My little angel..."

Now the big question was whether this man was still planning on meeting them at the pier like he had instructed, or if he had fled? In actuality, he stumbled all the way back to where he originally kidnapped Jeanette. Since he saw what house she exited the other day, he knew which house to break into. Jeanette had woken up from her black out, and was overly grateful for the smoothe Eleanor made for her.

"Is that okay, Jeanette?" Eleanor asked.

Jeanette finished consuming the entire glass, before letting out a long, satisfying sigh. "That was delicious, Eleanor."

"Good!" Eleanor responded.

"Can we get anything else for you, Jeanette?" Theodore asked, willing to cook anything for her hungry stomach.

"Maybe a sandwich of some sort..." Jeanette replied, "maybe grilled cheese..."

"Coming right up!" Theodore said, as he stepped out of the bedroom, followed by Eleanor, who was going to make Jeanette another smoothe.

"How's your leg, sissy?" Brittney asked.

"'Sissy'?" Jeanette responded. "You haven't called me 'sissy' since... I can't even remember when..."

"Well..."

"It's still very sore..." Jeanette moaned.

"Well," Simon said, "at least we've put a stop to the bleeding for the most part... I just hope Miss Miller and Dave get home soon..."

"Why don't you try calling them?" Brittney suggested. "Maybe one of them have their cells with them."

"Good idea, Brittney..." Simon complimented, as he left the room to use the phone.

"Simon and I buried the hatchet, Jeanette." Brittney told her little sister.

"Oh..." Jeanette moaned, "please don't mention hatchet..."

"Oop, sorry..." Brittney apologized, as she began rubbing her sister's head. "Can I do anything for you Jeanette? Need another pillow, or anything?"

"No, that's alright," Jeanette told her, "I'll be fine...". Jeanette moved her head over closer to where Brittney was sitting on her bed, while Brittney helped Jeanette rest her on her lap.

"I was so scared..." Jeanette said softly, "I was so afraid I'd never see you, or anybody again..."

"Shh," Brittney said, still rubbing her little sister's head, "you're home now, Jeanette..."

"Brittney..." a tear came to Jeanette's eye, "would you really have given that man ten million dollars for me?"

"Jeanette?" Brittney responded. "I would have given that man my own life for you."

"Really?"

"Really."

Jeanette smiled. Brittney smiled.

"I'll be right back," Brittney said, as she slipped off Jeanette's bed, "I have to pee..."

So, as Brittney hopped out of the room to use the bathroom, Dave was speaking to Simon the phone.

"You got Jeanette home?!" He asked. "Oh, thank God..."

Miss Miller snatched Dave's cell phone out of his hand, "Simon? It's Miss Miller, tell me, is my baby girl alright?"

"She's alive, that's for sure," Simon told Miss Miller over the phone, "she's awake now, and we're getting food and drink into her stomach, to help reboost her energy, but she's got a terrible ax injury to her right thigh, and I don't know what happened to her other thigh..."

"We're on our way home right now!" Miss Miller cried, as she hung up. "We've got to get home to Jeanette!"

"Let's get mobile!" The captain commanded, as Miss Miller hopped into her car, while Dave got into the back of the police car, as they prepared to drive back to Miss Miller's house.

Jeanette was talking to herself, about nothing in particular, just talking to try to keep herself from falling unconscious again. Then she heard the door close, and lock. When she looked up, she lost all color in her face.

"Thought you could get away from me, huh?" Said Craig, her kidnapper, now with a huge lump in the middle of his forehead, and other cuts and bruises among the rest of his face. "No such luck, I knew where you lived..."

Jeanette felt like she was about to have a heart attack.

"I didn't want to have to do this," Craig said as he unzipped his pants with the only hand that was still functioning, "but you leave me no choice..." 


	9. Reaching a Climax

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Nine - "Reaching a Climax"

Oh God, this is it, is what Jeanette thought as her kidnapper, Craig, unzipped his pants with the only hand that was still useable, and made his way over to Jeanette's bedside. She knew Miss Miller's biggest fear was learning that one of her daughters had been raped, and now, Jeanette could tell she was about to face that same fate.

"I'm not through with you..." Craig said, his gravely voice sounding even deeper than before, "I never was through with you, and I'm never going to be through with you..."

"But..." Jeanette tried to respond.

"What?" He responded. "You thought I was actually going to let you go when I got my money? No chance, girly. I had plans for you. Big plans. I would have let you have your pick... you could've spent the rest of your life singing. For me. Let me be your manager. Turn you into a big solo artist."

"Or..." Jeanette asked.

"Or, I could have turned you into an amateur erotica star..."

Jeanette was smart, but she had no idea what erotica, she never heard anyone talk about erotica before, but she didn't like the sounds of it.

"And we start now..." Craig said, as he pulled back the covers, and climbed into Jeanette's bed, sitting on top of her.

"Oh God, please don't do this to me!" Jeanette screamed.

"Jeanette?!" Brittney cried from outside the locked bedroom door. "Jeanette, what's going on in there?!"

"I'm being..." Jeanette attempted to call back, but Craig slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Keep that trap shut, got it?!" He whispered to her, as she started to cry.

Brittney attempted to break the door down, but was having no such luck. "Simon! Eleanor! Alvin! Theodore! Come quick! Jeanette's in trouble! Hurry! Hurry!"

The rest of the kids almost tripped over each other, as they raced upstairs to where Brittney was frantically calling.

"What's going on?!" Simon asked.

"Jeanette's in trouble, I think!" Brittney cried, as she continued to break the door down, while Alvin, Theodore, and Eleanor joined her.

Simon had another idea. He raced into Miss Miller's garage, and found a two-story tall ladder, which he struggled to pull over to the chipettes' bedroom window. As the rest of the kids continued to try to break down the bedroom door, inside, Craig struggled to pull off Jeanette's underwear with his one good hand. Especially since Jeanette was struggling to squirm.

"Sit still!" He commanded her.

"Please! Don't do this to me!" Jeanette pleaded.

"I'll do whatever I please!" He barked.

Jeanette tried to think of someway she could get Craig to stop what he was doing, until finally, she came up with a line. A rather clever line.

"I have AIDS!" She screamed.

Craig froze. "You what?!"

"I have AIDS!" Jeanette told him again, just as Simon positioned the ladder, and ascended it to see what was going on.

"You do not!" Craig said, not buying into Jeanette's story.

"It's true!" She told him. "I've just recently been diagnosed with it... I... I only have a few more months..." Jeanette continued, still crying.

"You really have AIDS?!" Craig asked, sounding a bit intimidated.

Jeanette sniffed. "Yeah..."

"Oh... oh! Oh shit!" Craig said as he fell off of Jeanette's bed, zipping his pants back up. "Oh... I touched that gash on your leg! I'm a walking disease factory! Oh God, now I only have a few more months myself!"

Craig ran over to the door, and flung it open, causing the rest of the kids to fall in, just as Simon broke through the bedroom window. Craig jumped over the kids, and ran out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Brittney asked.

"Boy... was he a chump..." Jeanette said, "he actually believes I have AIDS..."

"You told him you have AIDS?" Simon asked.

"To get him to not rape me." Jeanette responded.

Simon smiled, and wrapped his arms around Jeanette's shoulders. "Quick thinking saves the day."

"What are we waiting for?" Brittney in mock heroism. "Let's get him!"

Craig tripped down the stairs, just as Alvin, Theodore, and Eleanor chased after him, lead by Brittney.

"You're going to get it now, bub!" Brittney yelled at Craig, as he picked himself off the floor. "You're going to pay for all that you did to my little sister!"

"And my big sister!" Eleanor added.

"And our friend!" Alvin and Theodore added.

"Please, don't hurt me!" Craigh pleaded.

"Oh God, you're so pathetic!" Brittney barked.

"You hurt Jeanette! There isn't any way we're going to let you get away with it!" Eleanor added.

Craig lept to his feet, and ran out the frontdoor, just as the grown-ups returned home. The police hopped out of their car, and aimed their guns at him.

"Stop!" Commanded the captain. "In the name of the law!"

"I ain't spending my last few months in jail!" Craig cried, still fearing that he caught AIDS from Jeanette, as he ran down the sidewalk.

The police opened fire, but Craig kept running.

"We're in pursuit, we're in pursuit..." the captain spoke into the C.B. just as they drove off after him.

Dave and Miss Miller ran into the house.

"Thank God you kids are alright!" Dave said, scooping them all up in his arms, and embracing them.

"Where's Jeanette?!" Miss Miller asked.

"She's upstairs," Brittney told her, "Simon's taking care of her..."

Miss Miller made her way upstairs, as Dave put the others down.

"How did you kids do it?!" He asked.

"It wasn't easy," Brittney said, "it took a lot of brains, and a lot of courage, but eventually, we found her."

"You kids are incredible," Dave complimented, "risking your lives to save a friend... and a sister... I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of all of you for... for... is something burning?!"

Theodore and Eleanor gasped. "The grilled cheese!" They ran into the kitchen, smoking seeping out of the doorway as the grilled cheese sandwich burned, almost catching fire.

Miss Miller ran over to Jeanette's bedside, and embraced her tightly. "Oh, Jeanette," Miss Miller said, shedding tears of joy, "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Jeanette held on to Miss Miller tightly, "I didn't think I'd ever see you again, either!" Jeanette began crying as well.

"Thank God you're still alive, Jeanette!" Miss Miller said, hugging Jeanette even tighter, but then stopping. "Simon said you have injuries?"

Jeanette pulled her skirt up, revealing the bloody bandage around her right thigh, and the red burn streak on her left thigh.

"What did that bad man do to you?!" Miss Miller asked, really sounding like an overprotective mother, coddling a baby.

"He hit me with a hatchet..." Jeanette said, placing her right hand on the wound on her right thigh, "then his cigarette burned me here..." Jeanette pointed to the burn on her left thigh.

"Oh, you poor thing," Miss Miller cooed, "you must be in a lot of pain?"

"Yeah..."

"He also kicked her in the back with really heavy boots." Simon added.

"He didn't break your back, did he?!" Miss Miller asked.

"I don't know..." Jeanette responded.

"Does it hurt?"

"Kind of... like a dull pain, right in the middle of my spine..."

"We need to get you to a hospital..." Miss Miller said, as she gently scooped Jeanette up off her bed, and carried her out of the room.

"You didn't get a fire started, did you?" Dave asked Theodore and Eleanor, as they left the kitchen.

"No, thank goodness," Eleanor said, "if we had been a second or two late, then there would have been a disaster."

"David?" Miss Miller asked, carrying Jeanette downstairs. "Can you watch Brittney and Eleanor for me while I take Jeanette to the hospital?"

"Aw, can't we come too?" Brittney pleaded.

"Please?" Eleanor added.

"Jeanette needs all of us right now!" Brittney told her.

"Can they please come with me, Miss Miller?" Jeanette asked, not wanting to be seperated from her sisters again so soon.

"Okay, sweetheart." Miss Miller told Jeanette, before kissing her on the head. 


	10. Hospital and Courtroom Drama

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Ten "Hospital and Courtroom Drama"

Jeanette's grip on Miss Miller's hand grew tighter, and tighter, as a nurse cleaned up the gash on her right thigh with stinging alcohol.

"It will only hurt for a little while, darling." Miss Miller assured Jeanette, as tears began rolling down her face from the pain.

Brittney was holding Jeanette's other hand, while Eleanor rested her hands on Jeanette's shoulders. When the doctor came in to stitch up Jeanette's thigh, she began squeezing Miss Miller and Brittney's hands so hard, they were in pain.

"Not so tight there, Jeanette!" Brittney yelped.

"You're going to be fine," Eleanor assured her, rubbing her shoulders, "you're going to be just fine..."

Jeanette moaned repeatedly as her thigh was stitched up, her wound was so severe, her thigh was very tender, the slightest touch made her gasp from the sharp, excrutiating pain.

"We're almost done, darling." Said the doctor, as he was two thirds finished with her stitches.

Jeanette moaned some more, but Miss Miller and Brittney never let go of her hands, and Eleanor didn't stop rubbing her shoulders, or giving her a gentle hug around the neck.

"There we go." Said the doctor, as he tied off her sutures. "Now then, I understand you may have sustained an injury to your back, I'd like to take an X-ray, in case there may be any damage to your spine."

"Okay..." Jeanette said, softly.

Jeanette felt embarrassed, lying on the X-ray bed, on her stomach, with no sweater on. She couldn't see it, but everyone commented on the nasty bruise she had on her back. The X-rays didn't turn up anything, but just to be on the safe side, and because of the massive blood loss from her ax injury, they wanted to keep her over night. Shortly later, Jeanette laid in a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown, and having an I.V. of plasma stuck in her hand. Miss Miller sat by Jeanette's bedside with her.

"I'm very proud of you, Jeanette." Miss Miller told her daughter.

"Why?" Jeanette asked in curiousity.

"For being such a brave, big girl..." Miss Miller said.

"I wasn't brave, Miss Miller," Jeanette said, sadly, "I was a big chicken through out the entire ordeal with that guy..."

"Oh, Jeanette..."

"I was! I was scared to death! I didn't know what this guy was going to do to me, I didn't know if he was going to hurt me, or even kill me... I was especially afraid he might rape me, and that you would end up finding out..."

"He didn't rape you, did he, Jeanette?"

"I'm not sure... before you came home, he walked into my room... he closed the door, locked it... walked up to my bed... he was unzipping his pants, climbing on top of me, trying to pull my underwear down..."

"Oh God..." Miss Miller moaned.

"But..." Jeanette continued, "I told him I had AIDS... he didn't believe me at first, but I convinced him I had AIDS, and only had a few more months to live..."

"How did that work?"

"He ran out of the house like a he was escaping the mental institution."

Miss Miller ran her fingers through Jeanette's hair. "I'm still proud of you, Jeanette. No matter what, I'll always be proud of you."

Jeanette looked up into Miss Miller's face, and revealed a small smile, before slowly slipping into slumber again, just as Brittney and Eleanor returned from the cafeteria with ice cream for her. Miss Miller brought her finger up to her lips, before pointing at the sleeping Jeanette. Brittney sat the ice cream on the sink counter in the room, before walking over to Jeanette's bedside, and giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek, as did Eleanor.

All the while, the police had finally caught up with Jeanette's kidnapper, Craig, who was in the outskirts of town, resisting arrest, determined not to spend his last few months in the slammer.

"I'm not going, I tell you!" Craig shouted. "If I got but a few more months to live, I ain't going to live them behind bars!"

"Who said you have a few more months to live?" One cop asked.

"That kid! That chipette girl, Jeanette!" He screamed. "She gave me AIDS!"

"That's impossible," added another officer, "she doesn't have AIDS!"

"Of course she does!" Craig screamed. "She told me herself!"

"Then she told a little untruth, then," said the captain, as he pushed Craig into the back of the waiting police car, "because we sent her blood from your ax to our lab... if she had AIDS, or even HIV, we would've been notified."

"So just shut up, and enjoy the ride!" Said the other officer, before the door was slammed shut.

Craig was transported down to the police station, where he was found guilty of more criminal loitering, kidnapping, criminal mischief, bribery, assault with a deadly weapon, child molestation, wreckless driving, resisting arrest, they even charged him with attempted murder, since Jeanette had gone so long without food, and was wasting away. The police were ready to book Craig for his crimes, but he insisted on seeing a lawyer. The only problem was Craig had no lawyer, so one had to be provided for him. When the news of this reached Miss Miller's ears, she was outraged.

"Lan sakes, alive!" Miss Miller shouted, waking Jeanette from her slumber.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Miss Miller?" Asked Jeanette, with a yawn.

"That man who kidnapped you wants to see you in court!" She told her.

"Why?!" Jeanette asked, focusing her attention on the officer, visiting them in her hospital room.

"He insisted to see you in court about this situation." He told her.

"He stalks me, kidnaps me, forcings me to sing for him, whacks one leg with a hatchet, burns the other leg with his cigarette, threatens me, my sister, and my boyfriend with a gun, chases after us when we escape, and he wants to sue me?!"

"Young lady, I know this is hard for you to believe," the officer continued, "but if you could testify, this could help us book him with an even harder sentence for his crimes... and we're not thinking about locking him up in an ordinary prison..."

"What do you mean by that?" Miss Miller asked.

"We have reasons to believe this guy is mentally disturbed," the officer told them with a chuckle, "he... he claims that you seduced him into doing most of those things to you..."

"Oh please," Jeanette moaned in disgust, "do I look like the kind of girl who would seduce some kind of creep?"

"No ma'am, I'll admit you don't even look like the kind of girl who would try to draw any kind of attention to yourself..."

"Jeanette doesn't dray attention to herself!" Brittney barked. "Jeanette's too shy to even try to say a simply 'hello' to people she doesn't even know!"

"You've got evidence," Miss Miller insisted, "you have our word against his, why must we go through court room drama, when my daughter's been through more than enough trauma to last her a lifetime?!"

"Ma'am," the officer began, "not only are we sworn to protect, we're also sworn to serve... no matter who it is we're serving."

The sounds of Miss Miller and her daughters sighing took over the room at that moment.

"I don't know..." Jeanette said softly, "I don't think I can go through with this..."

"You shouldn't have to go through with this, Jeanette." Miss Miller told her.

The court date had been set, and at the beginning of the week, the Millers and the Sevilles were in court to testify against Craig, who was about to take the stand.

"Do you, Craig Bromson, swear to tell the court the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me, God?" Asked the baliff, as he swore Craig in.

"I do..." Craig responded, sounding like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

Craig was instructed to take his seat, as the judge proceeded with the trial.

"Mr. Bromson," the judge asked, "you realize that you have been charged with an overwhelming amount of violations of the law, including the kidnapping of the defendant... how do you plead?"

"I plead... I plead... I plead temporary insanity!" Craig snapped. "I... I couldn't help it! Look at her! Just look at her!" Craig started pointing, and waving his finger at Jeanette. "I don't know what brand of perverted witchcraft she's practicing... but she seduced me!"

"Objection!" Miss Miller cried out.

"Sustained!" Craig cried back.

"Order!" The judge beat her hammer against the gavel.

"She's a seductress I tell you!" Craig rambled on.

"She's just an eight-year-old girl!" Miss Miller snapped back.

Pretty soon, Craig and Miss Miller's bickering got out of hand, as the judge repeatedly hammered the gavel.

"Order!" She yelled. "Order! Order! Order in this court!"

The bickering still went on until Craig clutched his chest, and started turning paler by the second. This quieted everyone down for a moment, before Craig fell out of his chair, and onto the floor.

"Mr. Bromson!" The judge called out, assuming he was play acting.

Just then, a man from the jury, trained in first aid, made his way to Craig's body, where he proceeded to check his pulse, and his heartbeat.

"He's dead." He said. 


	11. Back to Abnormal

Saving Private Jeanette - Chapter Eleven "Back to Abnormal"

Two weeks had passed, since the entire incident involving Jeanette being kidnapped, and held for ransom by a man named Craig Bromson. The last any of them saw of the man was when he insisted on seeing Jeanette in court, and during the trial, he died from a heart attack. At least that's what the autopsy reported. Another thing that was reported, when the police department got ahold of his medical records, was that Craig was, indeed, mentally unstable. Like Jeanette had suspected, his instability was the root of his multiple personalities, the one thing she remembered so clearly about him, when he could be quiet and calm one minute, loud and violent the next, and even perverted the next. Jeanette still has nightmares about this man. She wishes with all her heart that she could forget him, and what happened, but she never will.

"It's the day!" Brittney squealed, as she ran over to Jeanette and embraced her. "It's the day! It's the day! It's the day!"

"What day is that?" Jeanette asked.

"How could you forget?" Eleanor asked, as she walked over to join in on the group hug. "Today's the day you get your stitches out!"

"Oh yeah!" Jeanette exclaimed. "How could I forget that?"

Miss Miller walked into the girls' room, "Jeanette dear, your appointment is at three o'clock."

"Goody!" Jeanette squealed, finally sounding more like her old self again, as Brittney and Eleanor continued to hug her.

The day seemed to pass very slowly as Jeanette awaited her appointed, then waited once more for the doctor to see her, which he finally did at around three forty-five.

"Alright, young lady," said the doctor, in a friendly tone of voice, "what can we do for you today? Free appendix operation? Nose job? We have a special on tonsilectomies this week only..."

Jeanette couldn't help but giggle at the doctor, who obvious had a sense of humor, so she decided to play along... "Lately, I've been thinking about having my arms extended," she joked, "you see, sometimes I have trouble reaching certain things..."

"We can take care of that," the doctor said with a laugh, "if you'd like, we can do something about your legs, too, make you even taller."

"Ooh..." Jeanette responded, playfully, "is this covered by my H.M.O.?"

"Hmm, good question," replied the doctor, "I'll check..." He looked through Jeanette's medical chart, humming as he did so. "Uh oh..."

"What?"

"Ooh, this isn't good..."

"What?!"

"Not good at all..."

"What?! What?!"

"You've got stitches in your leg..."

"Yeah..."

"Well, we need to do something about that, I better get the nurse..."

The nurse simply held Jeanette's hand, as the doctor removed the stitches from Jeanette's thigh. It didn't hurt too bad, but it didn't feel too good either. Jeanette moaned through out the whole process, but she was so relieved when the doctor was finished.

"Aren't you a brave, little soldier?" He said, again, in his playful tone of voice. "Nurse?"

"Yes doctor?" The nurse responded.

"A girl this brave deserves something a little extra special, don't you agree?" He asked.

The nurse smiled. "Completely."

Jeanette walked back into her bedroom, holding at least half a dozen balloons in one hand, and two giant lollipops in the other.

"I see everything went well!" Eleanor exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Jeanette responded.

"Did it hurt?" Brittney asked.

"Not too much," Jeanette told her, "it didn't hurt, persay, but it was a bit uncomfortable." Jeanette said, as she let go of the balloons, and watched them flutter towards the ceiling.

"So, you going to be alright?" Brittney asked.

"Yeah," Jeanette replied, "I'll have to live with this scar for the rest of my life..."

Jeanette lifted up her skirt, and showed her sisters the unsigthly scar across her right thigh. Brittney sat next to Jeanette.

"Hey," Brittney started, "it could have been worse... he could have chopped your whole leg off... he could have killed you..."

"Yeah, I know," Jeanette said softly, "but... something tells me he wouldn't even have tried to kill me... he just wanted me so badly..."

"At least he's gone, Jeanette," Eleanor said, sitting next to Jeanette as well, "you don't have to worry about him anymore." Eleanor embraced her older sister. "I'd hate to think of what more that creep would have done to you!"

Brittney embraced Jeanette as well, "I'd never be able to forgive myself if I never saw you again... and never got to apologize to you for all the terrible things I did to you..."

"Thanks, girls..." Jeanette said, almost in tears, "you're the best sisters ever!" She said, as she wrapped an arm around each of them.

Simon knocked on the door, before entering the room. "How did it go?"

"Just fine," Jeanette said, as Brittney and Eleanor went to their own seperate parts of the room.

"Look at the balloons..." Simon remarked, as watched them dance across the ceiling from the air conditioning blowing.

"Go those at the doctor." Jeanette said.

"It didn't hurt you, did it?" Simon asked.

"No..."

Jeanette lifted up her skirt, and showed Simon her scar... so afraid it would disgust him, and turn him off.

"At least you're still alive," he said, showing her that the scar doesn't bother him, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Jeanette smiled, and embraced her boyfriend.

"I love you, Jeanette." Simon said softly.

"I love you, too." Jeanette responded, with a tear in her eye.

Simon, Brittney, and Jeanette gave off a wonderful presentation in class for their ecosystem project...

"And as you can see," Brittney added, "in order to show how an oceanic ecosystem really works, we made our plants and animals out of modeling clay, and gave them all a careful coating of... of... what is it called again?"

"Polyurethane," Simon continued, "this helped us make our flora and fauna waterproof."

"We know we didn't have to actually use water," Jeanette spoke up, "but we wanted this to be as realistic as possible."

"Well you three did a wonderful job," the teacher complimented, "and that especially goes to you, Brittney, I haven't seen you work quite so hard at your school work before."

Brittney smiled, she was smiling even more when she got an A, for once, on her report card, because of the project.

"We did a great job, didn't we?" Brittney asked her group mates.

"We certainly did," Simon added, "that was a great idea of your's to use actual water in a plastic case, we got extra points for that."

"Hey, the ocean's wet, isn't it?" Brittney asked.

"Sure is." Simon replied.

"I wonder what the chances are of the three of us ending up in the same group for our next project?" Jeanette asked.

Another week had passed, when the teacher gave out another project to the class. This time, wanted the class to make a diorama of the food chain, and because they did such a wonderful job on their last project, she assigned Simon, Jeanette, and Brittney to the same group again. After school, that day, the three of them got together at the library, to discuss their project.

"So," Simon began, "I was thinking if we made some little fish out of recycable material... maybe work up some kind of mechanism that will allow us to show each fish eat the smaller one before it, by the pull of a string...

"Oh please," Brittney butted in, "that's a little too complicated, Simon, besides, why do we need to focus on just fish?"

"We don't," Simon responded, "I was just suggesting..."

"What we need," Brittney interrupted, "is to make a big poster, showing little bugs eating plants that are being eaten my a little rabbit, which gets eaten by a hawk, which gets eat by a wolf!"

"Don't you think that's a little simplistic?"

"Well at least it's a lot less complicated than what you're talking about."

"If complexity bothers you, I can work out the mechanism myself..."

"But then you'd be doing most of the work!"

"Not necessarily, you could make the fish."

"But we don't want just fish in this project..."

As Simon and Brittney continued bickering, Jeanette simply shook her head. Just like the old days, she thought to herself.

The end. 


End file.
